The Testaments
2019 • 432 pages

Ratings154

Average rating4

15

A relatively uncomplicated story and a fast read compared to many of Margaret Atwood's other novels, including The Handmaid's Tale. The book is three first person narratives: Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid's Tale, Agnes, a young woman who was raised in Gilead, and Daisy, a teenaged girl raised in Canada who is learning about Gilead from the outside. Of the three, Aunt Lydia's narrative is central. We learn some things about her backstory that don't make her exactly sympathetic, but they do make her seem more human. She is also present in the other two narratives even when she is not physically present in the story–evoked as a bogeyman and revered as a founding figure in Gilead.
The more I think about it, the more I think this novel is about Aunt Lydia. I would say more, but I am suppressing all kinds of spoilers.

If you're at all interested in what happens to Gilead in the time after The Handmaid's Tale, I recommend this. It's a page turner that doesn't require a huge amount of energy to read, but it is satisfying to think about afterward.

May 31, 2021Report this review